When looking for a travel company, we often agree to travel with those who are not close or familiar to us. For various reasons, the format of a family vacation is not suitable for everyone, and not everyone can boast of easy-going friends. The solo journey of women is to stop waiting for others and go on your first solo journey, look at the world and the people around, unwind.
Features of solo travel
Not every female traveler is able to decide on a trip alone, when you need to rely only on yourself in difficult circumstances. Modern women are now more active and there are more and more travelers from different countries, and yet every year a list of countries where you can go without fear is announced.
You don’t have to conform to anyone. Many people think that only gloomy people can enjoy traveling alone, because a normal person in an unfamiliar place should feel like on a desert island. Being alone is difficult, but very interesting and informative. Traveling with someone and enjoying it is not easy either.
A practically healthy person should be comfortable first of all with himself, and some women deliberately go on a trip to understand something in themselves, just to take a break from everyday life and routine. This does not mean that the journey will be boring!
Additional information! Don’t withdraw into yourself: get to know each other, dine where the locals eat, go to concerts and theaters. Traveling by yourself is the best way to make new interesting acquaintances, finding yourself in the world of amazing people, different by nationality, skin color, religion, interests.
How to travel alone and what to do to overcome fear
If you still haven’t traveled anywhere without companions, don’t miss the chance, don’t deprive yourself of this useful experience. Firstly, there must be a motive to go somewhere alone, for example, a vacation at a time when everyone else is working, a recent dream, or just when everyone is tired. And all the fears, as always, are only in the head! If you have learned to cope with difficulties at home, then the skills will help you solve the problem in a foreign country.
Women may encounter obstacles while traveling, but for the most part everything goes without incident. The main danger for an independent traveler is people. The inhabitants everywhere are kind and generous towards women, but there are certain risks to traveling alone: scammers, swindlers, womanizers and other dubious social elements. The threat is not so frightening as to abandon your plans to go on a trip. If you specifically avoid potentially dangerous places, maintaining common sense, solo travel will be safe. Almost all major cities and tourist centers have special women’s safety squads, and help usually arrives quickly.
How to learn to travel alone? Start preparing for the tour in advance so you don’t get nervous and don’t do everything at the last moment. You always need to have a plan when you go alone, not to lose vigilance, carefully choose with whom and where to go. Do not walk alone at night, if you are not sure that this place is known for its nightlife. Walking alone late at night on secluded plots of land means inviting trouble. Therefore, when preparing for a solo trip, try to look confident and courageous, using common sense and a willingness to seek help. Self-confidence should not be confused with carelessness.
Be sure to take out insurance, and that its number is written down in the notes on the phone, or in your mail. Be sure to find out if vaccinations are required in the country where you are going. For example, in the countries of southern Africa they are needed. Before traveling, it would be useful to call the bank and tell which country you are going to so that the card works there and it is not blocked. When paying abroad, choose the local currency to avoid double conversion.
Make electronic and paper copies of their documents by placing them on several media (flash drive, paper, or e-mail). Since ID may be needed in many places, keep your driver’s license handy so you can pull it out when asked. The passport is always kept in a backpack deep inside. The key to a good trip is a properly assembled backpack and well-chosen clothes and shoes.
If you can replace jeans with something on the road, replace them (they are heavy and take up a lot of space). On the road, they take already worn, comfortable shoes: sandals, sneakers. Be sure to collect a first aid kit, take hygiene products with you. In many countries, drugs are sold by prescription.
How to travel alone
Learn more about the new location
The more you know about this place, the better you will understand what to do if something goes wrong. Don’t think of solo travel as something scary. The world is full of wonderful people, and don’t let fear hold you back from new experiences. However, you do not need to immediately announce to everyone that you are traveling alone. Be careful.
Pay attention! Search the Internet for timetables and airport bus departures, select a hotel, outline what sights you want to see and specify how it is customary to dress in temples.
In the modern world, a lot is decided with the presence of the Internet, a couple of days to search for information and further planning. Book your accommodation in advance, on trusted travel sites, so that local agents do not deceive you.
It’s always important to stay connected. Mobile communications work almost anywhere in the world, mapping applications for travelers will help you not to get lost in an unfamiliar city, and translators will explain, if necessary, on any topic.
Be sure to enable roaming for calls and SMS, besides, for foreigners, they usually offer not very profitable tariff plans. Be prepared for the fact that you can not always connect to Wi-Fi.
Be careful! You have to control everything: passport, tickets, time is money. Perhaps this is the most difficult part of the journey.
Travel during daylight hours
Check with your hotel receptionist if there are any problem areas that should be avoided. Plan your day so that after dark you don’t find yourself in forest parks, unfamiliar areas or on empty streets.
Going home late at night is stressful. The vast majority of unpleasant incidents happen in the evening and at night, so try to be on the road during the day. If you can’t schedule an arrival time, make it daytime. Return to your hotel in the company of people you trust. In the high season it is much better to go sightseeing and walk early in the morning.
If the women in the country you are traveling to dress conservatively, dress in the same way so as not to stand out too much from the local women, otherwise you risk becoming a potential victim of violence.
Secure your property
Most people today travel with a camera, smartphone or laptop. For thieves, these are very attractive things. Try not to really “shine” these items everywhere, let them be in your backpack with you most of the time, like a passport with a wallet. Keep money in different places, in different currencies, in banknotes and on a card.
How to travel alone in Europe
When moving around the country on your own, speak English at least at a simple level. It is easy to pull it up in a short time. A small vocabulary will suffice. Memorize the 20 easiest phrases in English. This is a matter of safety and convenience, as well as additional opportunities for travel. In a civilized world, even if you do not know the language, local people will explain with their fingers how to get there and there.
Install the translator on your smartphone “English for travel” from Russian to whatever you like. To use without the Internet, download the necessary languages, To the answer “How much does it cost?” anywhere they will show on the phone, calculator or fingers, and “Where is the museum?” explain by nodding your head to the right or left.
Learn the basics of the local language, without this it will be difficult, at least the most common phrases: how to ask for directions, ask for help, and so on. Also, many local people will feel better if they hear that you have learned at least a little of their language. English is the native language of only 5% of the world’s population. Another 15% have successfully learned it, and the rest are in the same position as you. It is much more useful to smile – it will be understood in any corner of the world. And you can show the address to the taxi driver on a piece of paper.
When it comes to safety, pay attention to your diet. Tasting dishes of national cuisine can have different consequences. Alcohol is sometimes the enemy of a solo traveler. if you get drunk, you will easily be at risk. If something has alerted you in a bar or nightclub, try to get out of there or tell someone about your difficulties, it can be a bartender or a security guard.
It is impossible to calculate and control everything, but this is not necessary! A tourist trip is an experience, experience, failure or achievement. Traveling alone – new acquaintances and new discoveries.